Tag: Gord Downie

Tragically Hip – Little Bones

My Canadian friends Deke, Dave, CB, and Randy got me into this band and Deke (check his YouTube channel out) mentioned how he really liked this 1991 album Road Apples. Before I started blogging I only knew The Band, Guess Who, Neil Young, and Rush were from Canada but these guys have filled me in. 

I’ve posted a few of their songs but nothing off this album. After listening to them this past year…I don’t understand and wonder why they didn’t explode over here. 

The two songs I’ve posted are great. New Orleans Is Sinking (great classic rock sound) and Ahead By A Century. The Tragically Hip is an institution in Canada, and still something of a cult band everywhere else… I love cult bands such as Big Star and The Replacements so that is fine with me but it’s not fair. 

This song was inspired by a conversation lead singer Gord Downie had with a cab driver in New Orleans. The driver explained the basics of life and survival, saying something like “you gotta eat—it’s just little bones”, which stuck with Downie. This was their second album and it did great. It peaked at #1 in Canada but failed to chart on the Billboard album chart. The song peaked at #11 in Canada in 1991.

They got their name from Elephant Parts. That was a video by Michael Nesmith (Monkee guitarist) and they heard it in an Elvis Costello song (Town Cryer) also. Gordon Downie said: “There’s one skit in there that is sort [of] like a TV plea: ‘Send some money to the Foundation for the Tragically Hip.’ And that phrase has also appeared in an Elvis Costello song. It crops up every now and again, and it’s just a name that we like.”

They formed in 1984 in Kingston, Ontario. They were together until 2017. They have released 13 studio albums, one live album, one compilation album, two video albums, two extended plays, and a boxed set. In 2017, lead singer Gord Downie passed away. 

Little Bones

It gets so sticky down hereBetter butter your cue finger upIt’s the start of another new yearBetter call the newspaper up

Two-fifty for a highballAnd a buck and a half for a beerHappy hour, happy hourHappy hour is here

The long days of Shockley are goneSo is football Kennedy-styleFamous last words taken all wrongWind up on the very same pile

Two-fifty for a decadeAnd a buck and a half for a yearHappy hour, happy hourHappy hour is here

I can cry, beg and whineTo every rebel I findJust to give me a lineI could use to describe

They’d say, “Baby, eat this chicken slowIt’s full of all them little bonesBaby, eat this chicken slowIt’s full of all them little bones”

So regal and decadent hereCoffin-cheaters dance on their gravesMusic all it’s delicate fearIs the only thing that don’t change

Two-fifty for an eyeballAnd a buck and a half for an earHappy hour, happy hourHappy hour is here

Well, nothing’s dead down here, it’s just a little tiredNothing is dead down here, it’s just a little tiredWell, nothing’s dead down here, it’s just a little tiredNothing is dead down here, it’s just a little tired

Oh baby, eat this chicken slowIt’s full of all them little bonesBaby, eat this chicken slowIt’s full of all them little bonesLittle bonesFull of all them little bonesAah, little bones

Tragically Hip – New Orleans is Sinking ….Canadian Week

I’m just now really listening to this band and I’m liking a lot of what I’m hearing. This song takes on a new meaning after Katrina but this song was released in 1989. Whenever I post something about a band that I don’t know much about…I usually go with their most popular song to start off. I posted Ahead By A Century, and people responded. I like this one more…it has some thump to it.

I liked this one with a first listen. I love the relentless guitar riff that starts this off.  The song seems to be recalling a past experience in the city, and the lyrics describe a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for everything New Orleans has to offer…including its spirit. The song is lamenting the changing times, and expressing his desire to remain connected to its rich history and traditions.

The song was on their debut album Up To Here released in 1989. The album did well in Canada peaking at #9 and #170 on the Billboard 100. They released 13 studio albums and this is the worse showing of all the albums on the Canadian charts. Nine of their albums peaked at #1, two of them at #2, and one of them at #3. The song peaked at #1 on the Canadian RPM magazine Charts, #70 on the Canadian Singles Charts, and #30 on the Billboard Main Rock Charts in 1989. The song was credited to the band.

To show the disparity between the band’s fortunes in America and Canada. I read that a fan was traveling through upstate New York and passed a small roadside club that said “Tonight: The Tragically Hip” and he turned around and saw them in the small club. In Canada at the time were filling stadiums and now they got a chance to see them close up. A difference a few miles can make.

The Tragically Hip is an institution in Canada, and still something of a cult band everywhere else…and I love cult bands such as Big Star and The Replacements.

Deke told me about the live album The Tragically Hip Live At The Rox May 3, 91 and it is great…a great sound and the band was really tight that night. No video of them but it’s worth a listen to the video below this.

New Orleans Is Sinking

Bourbon blues on the street, loose and complete
Under skies all smoky blue-green
I can’t forsake a Dixie dead-shake
So we danced the sidewalk clean
My memory is muddy, what’s this river that I’m in?
New Orleans is sinking man, and I don’t wanna swim

Colonel Tom, what’s wrong? What’s going on?
Can’t tie yourself up for a deal
He said “hey north you’re south shut your big mouth,
You gotta do what you feel is real”
Ain’t got no picture postcards, ain’t got no souvenirs
My baby, she don’t know me when I’m thinking ’bout those years

Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just to stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud that looked a little like me

I have my hands in the river
My feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the Lord above
And said, hey man thanks
Sometimes I feel so good I gotta scream
She said Gordie baby I know exactly what you mean
She said, she said, I swear to God she said

My memory is muddy, what’s this river that I’m in?
New Orleans is sinking man and I don’t wanna swim
Swim